Long meter

Long \Long\, a. [Compar. {Longer}; superl. {Longest}.] [AS.
   long, lang; akin to OS, OFries., D., & G. lang, Icel. langr,
   Sw. l[*a]ng, Dan. lang, Goth. laggs, L. longus. [root]125.
   Cf. {Length}, {Ling} a fish, {Linger}, {Lunge}, {Purloin}.]
   1. Drawn out in a line, or in the direction of length;
      protracted; extended; as, a long line; -- opposed to
      short, and distinguished from broad or wide.
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   2. Drawn out or extended in time; continued through a
      considerable tine, or to a great length; as, a long series
      of events; a long debate; a long drama; a long history; a
      long book.
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   3. Slow in passing; causing weariness by length or duration;
      lingering; as, long hours of watching.
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   4. Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in
      time; far away.
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            The we may us reserve both fresh and strong
            Against the tournament, which is not long.
                                                  --Spenser.
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   5. Having a length of the specified measure; of a specified
      length; as, a span long; a yard long; a mile long, that
      is, extended to the measure of a mile, etc.
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   6. Far-reaching; extensive. " Long views." --Burke.
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   7. (Phonetics) Prolonged, or relatively more prolonged, in
      utterance; -- said of vowels and syllables. See {Short},
      a., 13, and Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 22, 30.
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   8. (Finance & Com.) Having a supply of stocks or goods;
      prepared for, or depending for a profit upon, advance in
      prices; as, long of cotton. Hence, the phrases: to be, or
      go, long of the market, to be on the long side of the
      market, to hold products or securities for a rise in
      price, esp. when bought on a margin. Contrasted to
      {short}.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   Note: Long is used as a prefix in a large number of compound
         adjectives which are mostly of obvious meaning; as,
         long-armed, long-beaked, long-haired, long-horned,
         long-necked, long-sleeved, long-tailed, long- worded,
         etc.
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   {In the long run}, in the whole course of things taken
      together; in the ultimate result; eventually.

   {Long clam} (Zool.), the common clam ({Mya arenaria}) of the
      Northern United States and Canada; -- called also
      {soft-shell clam} and {long-neck clam}. See {Mya}.

   {Long cloth}, a kind of cotton cloth of superior quality.

   {Long clothes}, clothes worn by a young infant, extending
      below the feet.

   {Long division}. (Math.) See {Division}.

   {Long dozen}, one more than a dozen; thirteen.

   {Long home}, the grave.

   {Long measure}, {Long meter}. See under {Measure}, {Meter}.
      

   {Long Parliament} (Eng. Hist.), the Parliament which
      assembled Nov. 3, 1640, and was dissolved by Cromwell,
      April 20, 1653.

   {Long price}, the full retail price.

   {Long purple} (Bot.), a plant with purple flowers, supposed
      to be the {Orchis mascula}. --Dr. Prior.

   {Long suit}
      (a) (Whist), a suit of which one holds originally more
          than three cards. --R. A. Proctor.
      (b) One's most important resource or source of strength;
          as, as an entertainer, her voice was her long suit.

   {Long tom}.
      (a) A pivot gun of great length and range, on the dock of
          a vessel.
      (b) A long trough for washing auriferous earth. [Western
          U.S.]
      (c) (Zool.) The long-tailed titmouse.

   {Long wall} (Coal Mining), a working in which the whole seam
      is removed and the roof allowed to fall in, as the work
      progresses, except where passages are needed.

   {Of long}, a long time. [Obs.] --Fairfax.

   {To be long of the market}, or {To go long of the market},
   {To be on the long side of the market}, etc. (Stock
      Exchange), to hold stock for a rise in price, or to have a
      contract under which one can demand stock on or before a
      certain day at a stipulated price; -- opposed to {short}
      in such phrases as, to be short of stock, to sell short,
      etc. [Cant] See {Short}.

   {To have a long head}, to have a farseeing or sagacious mind.
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Meter \Me"ter\, Metre \Me"tre\, n. [OE. metre, F. m[`e]tre, L.
   metrum, fr. Gr. ?; akin to Skr. m[=a] to measure. See {Mete}
   to measure.]
   1. Rhythmical arrangement of syllables or words into verses,
      stanzas, strophes, etc.; poetical measure, depending on
      number, quantity, and accent of syllables; rhythm;
      measure; verse; also, any specific rhythmical
      arrangements; as, the Horatian meters; a dactylic meter.
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            The only strict antithesis to prose is meter.
                                                  --Wordsworth.
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   2. A poem. [Obs.] --Robynson (More's Utopia).
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   3. A measure of length, equal to 39.37 English inches, the
      standard of linear measure in the metric system of weights
      and measures. It was intended to be, and is very nearly,
      the ten millionth part of the distance from the equator to
      the north pole, as ascertained by actual measurement of an
      arc of a meridian. See {Metric system}, under {Metric}.
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   {Common meter} (Hymnol.), four iambic verses, or lines,
      making a stanza, the first and third having each four
      feet, and the second and fourth each three feet; --
      usually indicated by the initials C. M.

   {Long meter} (Hymnol.), iambic verses or lines of four feet
      each, four verses usually making a stanza; -- commonly
      indicated by the initials L. M.

   {Short meter} (Hymnol.), iambic verses or lines, the first,
      second, and fourth having each three feet, and the third
      four feet. The stanza usually consists of four lines, but
      is sometimes doubled. Short meter is indicated by the
      initials S. M.
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